Following Football All Around The Globe

Zinedine Yazid Zidane is one of the greatest footballers to have played in past twenty years. Born on 23 June 1972, he played with some of the greatest players of time and he outshone all of them in both his international and club career. He first started playing Professional football at the age of 17 for Cannes in the year of 1988 and from there he never really looked back going from strength to strength. While he was at Cannes, his team finished fourth in the league allowing them to qualify for playing in European competition that remains their best finish ever.

In 1992, he moved to Bordeaux where he won his first trophy when his club won Intertoto cup in 1995. That allowed the international scouts to come and take him to Juventus. Blackburn Rovers almost got him, but despite the efforts of then manager Kenny Dalgish, deal could not be completed. He failed to win European Champions League despite appearing in two consecutive finals. He was one of the automatic selections for France 1998. He proved his selection right by two brilliant goals against Brazil in the finals. He led the French team to become champions of Europe in 2004. In the meanwhile, he joined the biggest club in the world, Real Madrid in 2001. He was transferred for what the highest fee was ever paid for any player up to that time of nearly 75 million Euros. He won his only Champions League title for his club; he scored the memorable winner in that match.

If we go into the history of soccer we will discover a most enchanting fact that over the years the beautiful game of soccer has experienced a number of highly talented and colorful characters. In most cases, soccer does not blend very well with great intellectual pursuits but the following are an exception:

Pele

He is easily the most influential soccer player of all time. He won the world cup with Brazil a record three times. These days, he is very popular as a soccer ambassador. He greatly revolutionized the sport of soccer and made it the number one sport in the world. Pele while on the field developed a full range of assets which he utilized throughout his games.

Tostao

This young man won the world cup with Brazil in 1970. Now, he is one of the most influential soccer journalists in his native Brazil. This man combined soccer skills with huge intellectual endowments throughout his career and till now.

Sir Bobby Charlton

It is very rare to get knighted by the Queen of England simply because you play football. But he was not your average English footballer. He played an important role in the world cup success of 1966 for England and had a great career at Manchester United where he played an incredible 759 matches. Sir Charlton is undoubtedly one of the greatest players of all time and is also arguably one of the top 3 soccer players in England.

Maradonna

This guy is a colorful but controversial character. He led Argentina to world cup glory in 1986 and remains an iconic figure in Latin American soccer circles. At present, he is the coach of Argentina’s national soccer team. No one did so much for his t-shirt. He played 91 matches and scored 34 goals. He is the flag of Argentine football.

Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker is one of football’s gentlemen. In his entire professional career, he didn’t receive a single yellow card. He scored a total of 244 goals from 462 games. He was awarded the OBE for his contribution to soccer and he also holds the record for top scorer in the 1986 world cup. He bowed out in the 1992 European Championship.

Zinedine Zidane

Forget the red card he was given in the final match of the 2006 world cup. Zidane remains a soccer hero anytime, anywhere. Zidane earned his reputation as one of the world’s best players with his peerless, often impossible-looking displays of technique and control.

David Beckham

He is one of the most iconic athletes. David Beckham is known especially for the power and accuracy of his free kicks. He played an important role to Manchester United’s six league championships and other accomplishments while on the team. He is the most famous English footballer of all time and the richest by far.

Past and present, these are some of the most influential players in the history of soccer.